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| Something you don't see everyday. Five generations and the one responsible is nearly 93 |
Absolutely no excuses. It is totally pathetic that a retiree, who hasn’t even got around to playing golf yet, can only get
around to updating a web site every 12 months.
Having said that I have absolutely no idea where
the last 12 months or so went to it. Need less to say family matters, some negative
but mainly positive have again dominated the year.
If you are one of the unfortunates who labour
through the annual newsletter when it gets posted you might remember that in 2005 I was off to NZ to visit my Mum in March
and then in late April Sue and I were to spend 3 weeks in the Eastern States.
Well, it didn’t happen quite as planned.
Yes, I was in NZ in March but only for about
two days when the message came through that a car accident in Perth had
hospitalized Sue’s Mum and sister. I was on the next plane back to Perth.
Our much awaited Eastern States trip was then
cancelled and we, but Sue in particular, spent weeks and then months traveling to hospitals and generally trying to pick up
the pieces of a family trauma. Kath, Sue’s Mum, was back at her retirement
home within about four weeks but her sister Lee, spent many weeks recovering in hospital, plus many more weeks in a rehab
hospital.
It appears that she had an aneurism when driving
and got hit by a car at a T junction. She has a head injury and although much
improved, nearly 18 months later, unfortunately hasn’t been able to return to work, can’t drive etc. She does
keep busy with some occupational therapy etc and can walk down the road to visit her mum at any time which is good.
As Sue is the only sibling she has to give a
fair amount of practical support, medical visits, banking matters etc. In addition,
Sue manages to visit her Mum two or three times a week but sometimes can ‘kill two birds with the one stone’ if
you will pardon the expression.
In July 2005 Sue again sent me packing to
NZ and this time I had a lovely uninterrupted week or so with Mum and NZ family. And
lucky people that we are we both trotted off to NZ again in September for a couple of weeks or so. When I go by myself I spend the time with Mum and family but when we both go, we also go to the South Island for some tiki touring. We just never get sick of it. Mountains, lakes, rivers, glaciers,
fiords, rain forest walks…..ahhhh give it to us anytime.
Earlier this year youngest sister Sue and her
husband Brendan sold their holiday park business and home near Palmerston North after ten years, and my Mum who had been so
well looked after by them for the greater part of the last 15 years is now happily settled in a very nice retirement home.
I dipped
into the piggy bank again in May for yet another visit to NZ and this time had a lovely stay with sister Joan and husband
Fred who live only about 10 minutes walk from where Mum now is. She has adjusted
very well to her new environment and I went to visit her twice a day.
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| Ron's 60th birthday December 2005 |
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| Our six kids. Keith, Sandy, Tristen, Jason, Jenny and Leo |
She is very lucky to have all of her intellectual
capabilities still going at 100 kph and she is just so lovely to talk to, whether it be sport, politics, the cost of living
or family. And she has such wonderful recall…I just love going for a trip
down memory lane with her.
Sadly she has had some bad news in recent weeks and now is dealing with cancer,
but it will be early August before we know exactly where, what and a prognosis. We
just keep thinking that she is nearly 93 and has had a wonderful life and all six siblings just want things to be painless
and peaceful for her. She is a true matriarch.
On the local front our four kids are all doing well and we are so proud of
them all.
Jason and Tristen have been married for nearly
6 months now and things seem to be going very well for them. Jason is being well
looked after as manager of the Woodvale IGA supermarket where he has been for over ten years now and Tristen is a psychologist. I said at their wedding that it was great having a psychologist in the family as our
lot could give her a fair bit of work experience.
Jen (in a good job at the local council) and
her loveable Leo (a ceramic tiler) have their own lovely new home plus a Pug and a Beagle
to keep them occupied. No word on a wedding date yet but we put money on Jen
being the first to go clucky. We may have mentioned in a previous letter that
Leo originates from Chile and has bought the best
out in our Jen in recent years. They make such a lovely couple and compliment
each other very well.
Jason and Tristen are about 5 minutes walk from
us, Jen and Leo about 15 minutes walk, but we don't see each other too often, sometimes not often enough.
Sandy has her own home in Greenwood, about 10 minutes drive south of us, closer to the city. She
is still searching for her man after closing off a relationship after about six years and has just picked up a very interesting
job working between the Perth and Fremantle museums doing educational stuff and programs.
She is loving it and she is such a positive and resourceful person….just a delight to have her around.
Keith lives closer to the city and things
seem to be going pretty well for him at the moment. He is in the second year
of environmental science studies and is hoping that it will give him work opportunities off shore when he finishes in a couple
of years time. He still does his pub work to keep him going. Hasn’t has a special lady in his life since he left his lovely Kate in Melbourne just over two years
ago but tells us he is always on the look out. We have lunch with him every three
or four weeks or so.
It is interesting that the two least qualified
and least inwardly thinking are those in good permanent jobs, strong relationships and homes of their own. Must be a message there!
Sue still does a bit of relief teaching concentrated
on the one school on North Woodvale where we used to live when first married, but for all intensive purposes is semi retired. She is very much into her craft work and runs a craft session for a group of kids and Mums at her church
every two weeks. Last year she was introduced to card making and is just loving
it. And on top of that she is one of the worlds greatest knits and most nights
when we are in you will find her clicking the plastics.
As mentioned before, she spends some time with
her Mum and sister each week, and we have also found that we are now at that age when some of our friends are having
health problems or other challenges and we devote time to help where possible.
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| 'I hope its not prawn cocktail again' |
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| Sue takng in our lovely night view of the olive tree park and Joondalup |
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The other big event in our lives over the past
12 months or so has been our retirement home.
We moved into our delightful retirement home
(last December) and it is now fully complete, inside and out. We are just loving
it and while it is small enough to easily maintain, it is big enough that we
have to go looking for one another every now and then. It is a 3 x 2 with a lovely
guest bedroom for visitors (and kids if they have to return to the nest for a while) so visiting family and friends are always
welcome.
We have a country style interior (lots of wood) and our kitchen and living
area is at the front, overlooking a lovely Olive tree park, a lake of which we get glimpses if we stand on tippy toe (or is
that tipsy toe), and a lovely distant westerly view of a low range of hills and regional park.
We have the most amazing view both night and day and even after six months we stand or sit in awe of what we have been
lucky enough to score.
We spend many an early evening out there with
a red wine or two, and if we are home always have morning tea out there. And
if its too sunny or windy for the verandah we just retreat to our alfresco living area in the centre (but on one side) of
the house where it is well protected. We have had many a family BBQ or pizza
night out there in the relatively short time we have been in.
In the first four months or so yours truly fitted
out all of our robes, store cupboards etc and then did all of the front and back gardens including reticulation, brick planter
beds and kerbing. We are just so thrilled the way that it has turned out and
as I said to good friends a few weeks ago if we won ten million in the lotto we would do lots of things with it, but we wouldn’t
move from where we are now.
We are determined to have plenty of life’s
experiences from now until I am 70 odd (actually I have always been odd) and will employ the SKI principle if necessary. We think much of our future will involve helping family, being there for friends and
traveling.
I have been retired for about 4 years now and
I have no idea what I have done with the time, but then are you supposed to account for time when retired? We are often planning trips and have traveled a fair bit, I have been the house husband at times, manage
our retirement finances, and we are often out during the week shopping and lunching.
I do all of our housekeeping shopping, but sometimes sit and catch the midday news
on Sky or sit on our front verandah with a good book. Having said that I think
I have read maybe four books since retiring. I know from advice that I have given
to others that retirement is not for everyone, but I just can’t get enough of it.
I want to do some volunteer work into the future,
particularly in the area of business planning or mentoring but just can’t commit at this time due to other things on
the retirement agenda. We also have a booked trip to NZ in April next when we
plan having dinner on our 10th wedding anniversary up the gondola in Queenstown where I proposed back in September 1996.
That’s it.
We hope we haven’t bored you to tears, but you are at least up to speed on the lives of the Payne’s of
Perth. Perhaps it’s just as well we only post a newsletter once a year.
We have included a photo page of Jason and Tristen’s
wedding, one of the real lovely and memorable events in recent times and also a page with photos of our new home. Pardon the indulgence.
We think of family and friends constantly and
in particular those who have touched our lives, but live far away, or who can’t be with us today.
Peace, prosperity and good health to all. May you be spoiled with love all year through.
Ron and Sue
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